Three French Hens is the third in the 12 Days/Years of Christmas Series. We again drew some inspiration from the name and decided that at least a portion of this beer had to be aged in French oak barrels. What we came out with is a bold and spicy Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 25% aged in oak. This beer is designed to take the journey through time until 12 Drummers Drumming, but is a delightful holiday treat right off the shelf.

Reviews by thetastywort:

Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a Bruery tulip glass. I drank this about 2 months ago and am just catching up on uploading all of my reviews.

A - Pours a murky brown with a slight tint of red with a light brown head and moderate lacing. About 1 finger head with good retention.

S - A beautifully complex blend of aromas. Nice brown sugar, malty, and faint tart, fruity hint. It ends nicely with a holiday-like spice such as clove and nutmeg. .

T - Taste starts out like a dark Belgian ale with a bit of leather. I think I taste a hint of toffee before the dark fruit flavors come in. There is definitely that Belgian yeast flavor that The Bruery prides itself on. Extremely complex and yet, familiar to their Anniversary recipe.

M - Body is light to moderate. A small amount of carbonation upfront that mellows after 10-15 minutes. Surprisingly dry finish.

D - This is a very complex beer and should mellow with age. Alcohol is well hidden. I definitely want to hold onto some of these bottles for a vertical in about 8 years. I slightly remember the barrel-aged version as being even more robust and desirable than the regular version.

More User Reviews:

I enjoyed this beer with zoso1967 (the supplier of the bottle), TCGoalie, BuckyFresh, and another good friend on 12-11-10. Happy marriage, Zach!

3 French Hens makes its way from the bottle to my oversized wine glass with a ruby-mahogany color. A tan one-finger head recedes a little, but retains quite well. Tiny carbonation bubbles are quite dense and jog up through the beer. The lacing on the glass is sticky, splotchy, and dotty.

The smell reveals a lovely, spicy Belgian yeast scent that blends harmoniously with candied fruits, a very fresh pear aroma, and a whiff of Granny Smith apples. The French oak that the beer was aged in lends a Chardonnay-like quality to the bouquet. I also smell some Christmas-sy spices of clove and coriander. I find this aroma very yummy.

The flavor is a little sweeter than I expected. Christmas candies, pear, crisp apple, and a smooth vanilla characteristic from the oak complement each other well. The smell had a dry scent; conversely, the taste has a very impactful sweet middle of the sip. The finish dries out that sweetness with a tannic oak influence, though. The spicy Belgian yeast is ever-present throughout the sip.

The mouthfeel is fairly light-bodied with a spicy nip from the yeast and a dry finish from the oak. The carbonation adds a refreshing and effervescent influence to the end of the sip.

3 French Hens is a nice, rare treat that agreed with the whole of our tasting party. I would certainly have it as a time to time treat, but it would not be a beer that I would imbibe regularly due to the sweetness.

The beer pours a dark amber color with a white head. The aroma is full of dark fruit and toffee.

The flavor is more complex. I get a lot of dark fruit, grapes and cherry notes as well as some toffee and some Belgian candy sugar. The beer also has a dry red wine component and some tannic notes that are very tasty. The alcohol is present but is not overpowering and the beer is very easy to drink for a beer of its strength and complexity. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

My first one of The Bruery's 12 Days of Christmas beers and it didn't disappoint.

Decided to open this because there is no way I will ever go after the first 2 of the series. Dark ruby red appearance when I hold it to the light. Smells of oak, vanilla, figs, alcohol, burnt sugar, and maybe a bit of cherry. Taste is oaky, with some vanilla and sweetness. Tastes messy though, it all kind of runs together. Also get a numbness to my tongue. Almost peppery, but there is a numbness. No finish really. Flavor hits the tip of the tongue and just stops dead in its tracks. Nothing towards the back of the throat. Overall, disappointing. This is my first time trying this and even though it is "supposed" to be aged for some years to come, I'm wondering if this is already going downhill. I'd like to try another one eventually to see if I just caught this during a rough patch of the aging process.

Somewhat lifeless murky brown with amber and orange edges. Thin khaki head that doesn't last long and doesn't leave much lacing down the glass either. This beer looks thin, lifeless, and oily.

Sweet aroma primarily of toffee and caramel, some sourdough bread, and a mild inclusion of dark fruits.

Very sweet flavor, namely of caramel and sticky toffee, a touch of nuttiness and some mild dark fruit flavors. Very little hop presence in the way of either bitterness or flavor. A sweet, malty, yeasty BSDA.

The mouthfeel is too thin, though heavy and oily, and somewhat under-carbonated.

I'm glad I got to try this BSDA, but it doesn't rank as one of my favorites. I won't seek it out again. Perhaps it was significantly better when fresh?

Dark fruity flavor, more spice, mahogany wood effect to it, the mo, another complex, but amazing beer so far. I don't even like these styles I kept thinking. This one was good enough on tap that I bought a bottle afterwards. Lots of caramel underneath the darker aspect of the beer. Not overly sweet, strong, but alcohol is hidden for its actual might. I liked it quite a bit. Be interesting to see how it is in a decade out of a bottle. Although I have a feeling I'll have it at least one more time this year.

Pours a very dark purplish-brown color with a half-finger off-white head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of large amounts of fruits - partly dark grapes but also plums and figs. Also present are sweet and dark malts with mild amounts of spices.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Sweet dark malt flavors with a hint of caramel malts kick things off. Joining in shortly thereafter are sweet dark fruits - crisp dark grapes with ripe plums. Near the end of the sip hints of indistinct spices make a brief appearance before fading out into a mildly sweet ending leaving a bit of alcohol burn on the back end. As the beer warms the influence of the spices increases.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with solid carbonation.

Drinkability is also good. I finished my glass without a problem and could have another.

Overall this was certainly one of the fruitiest BSDA's I've had in a while, most skew toward heavier malt and spice profiles. Worth a shot.

T/M: Maltiness isn't huge and is definitely highly fermented as the body is thinner than expected. Some dryness from sugar but I think it was mashed pretty low for fermentability. Lots of the spicy yeast with some esters mixed in there as well. A bit more carbonation and dryness would be an improvement.

Opened for Thanksgiving 2010. Poured from a 750 at cellar temperature into a Chimay chalice.

A-Initiall pour out of the bottle was clear deep garnet with a thin tan head that settled rapidly. Pretty coloration.

S-Sweet yeasty malts and dark fruits. Not detecting much spicing and a sour note in the background.

T-Initially sweet, yet a mouthwatering sour note kicks in almost immediately. Fresh pear combines with some vanilla oaking and the requisite raisin and figs that give way to a peppery sweet finish lasts forever. This is very different, very complex, and while the initial sip did not blow me away, it grows more charming the more I contemplate it. ABV is well hidden.

M-Mouthfeel is not as robust as I would like, and this is very overcarbonated, but it is young.

D-I like this, and will age the other bottle that I have and perhaps buy a third to open up in a few years before the drummers roll.

I generally don't pair beer with food but this would go exceptionally well with game.

3 French Hens is a dark ruby-tinted brown with good clarity when held to the light. The head is bone white and tight but it settles surprisingly quick and leaves no lace behind.

Aroma is sweet with dark malts and toffee notes. There is an unexpected funky fruit smell that doesn't seem entirely right but it doesn't turn me off either.

Flavor is that of a slightly sour strong dubbel. Nice toasted malts, caramel, and toffee with some dark fruits and dried fruits thrown in for good measure. A little bit of sour makes me wonder if it's the barrel aging or something worse.

Mouthfeel is velvety smooth, full in body, and low in carbonation. Just how I like it.

Overall a solid strong dark Belgian but unusual in some ways. Not a bad beer by any means but not what I was expecting.

Pours into the glass a dark soupy chocolate color. The head is formed of large bubbles, not quite dishsoap-ish, but close. Head has an interesting dirty white appearance, but it doesn't last long. A bubbly crown is all I've got after about a minute. Something looks "different" about this beer, certainly nothing "wrong" though.

A tea-like herbal aroma dominates the nose, but an earthy mineral/stone scent comes in closely behind. Definitely getting the vinous quality promised on the label, like a dry red wine.

The French Oak aging comes through strongly in the flavor, having all kinds of vinous qualities, including a considerable if not quite Pinot Noir-like dryness. Herbal notes pop out with a pleasant mellowness, and there's the rich, decadent character of fine cream-filled chocolates. Some honey, even more maple. Something cola-like hangs out too, tasted mostly in the finish, which lingers somewhere between chocolate, grape and cola. If not the most amazing-tasting beer, it's certainly one of the most unique I've had, which is pretty much Bruery's style.

Texturally this is great. Like, really great. While the bubbles feel like they want to attack, they actually give in to being as soft and caressing as possible. There's a wonderful balance here between carbonation tingle and sensual, silky softness, with the latter having an edge over the former. Wonderful.

There are some really good things going on here -- the flavor is unlike any other beer I can recall, and it feels fantastic. It fails to totally hit the grand slam I hoped for, but what the hell am I making baseball references for with a deep winter Christmas beer anyway? Everybody sing now: "Five golden gloves..."

Body is a deep brown with garnet highlights,. Aroma of French oak and dark fruit on top of a solid malty backbone. A nice, fruity character comes through at the front of the mouth, with a mild sour character from the yeast. Interesting notes of wood, light brown sugar, and a very light astringency. It will be interesting to see how this beer ages (it is supposedly good until 2012); right now it seems like it could use a little more time for the yeast to work its magic.